Kumazawa Banzan

Who was Kumazawa Banzan?

Kumazawa Banzan was an adherent of a branch of Neo-Confucianism called Wang Yangming Studies {Japanese: Yōmeigaku: 陽明学}, who lived during the early Edo period. His childhood name was Sashichirō, his imina was Hakukei, also read Shigetsugu. His common name was Ryōkai, and he was commonly known by the personal names as Jirōhachi or Suke'emon. His most common courtesy name was Sokuyūken. His surname "Kumazawa" was changed to that of "Shigeyama" in 1660 and the latter, read in Sino-Japanese as "Banzan", became his posthumous courtesy title, by which even now he is commonly known.